Hebrew Translation: “Teach me by laying a foundation established and erect controlling me which leads me down the road of life. O Lord; I will walk faithfully and stable in thy truth; unite my heart in the totality of my inner nature to reverence and respect your name.” Comment: We like Jesus disciples have struggled with this scripture! Like Jesus disciples we sometimes do not walk stable following him! We waver in faith getting off the road that leads to life! The disciples would sometimes get off the foundation! Their heart was not always united with Christ! Reverence and respect for his name was not always there! Peter denied Jesus even though he told him he would die for him! He eventually did in Rome years later! Jesus told us to go out into all the world and preach the Gospel! We say let the church do it! Let an organization do it! Pay them so I do not have to do it! Our gift’s God has given us cannot be used unless we do what Jesus told us to do! At the feeding of the 5000 Jesus asked the disciples what do they have? The disciples wanted to send the crowd away! We do not have money to feed this large crowd? Cancel the meeting! Send them home! The disciples were perplexed? They can buy their own food! A little boy in the crowd came prepared! He had more than enough for himself! He had a little faith! Enough faith to give Jesus everything he had! The little boy gave his all! He had the gift of 5 loaves and 2 fish! Bring what you have to Jesus! God will multiply it! Let God bless what you have! Really what he has given you! Doesn’t seem like much but enough! He will multiply it to feed everyone! God is greater than what you have! Have you figured this out yet? Do something with what God has given you! With your life! Don’t waste it on drugs and go to work! With the left overs from a miracle you can feed even more people! Twelve baskets full! Israel had twelve tribes and Jesus had twelve disciples! God can build a nation out of left overs! God can build a church with left overs! God has more than enough for your family! He has more than enough for your church! God can bless you if you bring all you have to him! Peter build my church! Do you want to distribute God to the world? Or keep him for yourself? Sow the seed you have! Do not eat your seed! Share and multiply what you have! The rich young ruler was not able to do that? He valued his possessions more than God! I don’t need to tithe and make offerings? The possessions God had given to him he could not give back! If you give to God what you have he will do more with it than you ever could by yourself! The graveyard is full of excuses! Even David who wrote this Psalm waivered at times! Jesus never did! Wait on God but not on anything else! Do what God has called you to do! Help the needy and the lost! Go after those the world has rejected! Pray and agree with God! Jesus had every excuse to quit! The crown of thorns was very painful! The betrayal of his disciples was painful! His back cut open and bleeding was painful! His Cross was heavy! Your will be done! God’s will is not easy! Jesus had no excuses to die for you! Do you have any excuses not to live for him? He gave his all! Can you? Be faithful! Stand up for our flag and take a knee for Jesus in prayer! Pastor Don Wildes, Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Fairburn, Georgia
Tag: cross
Christbook or Facebook? Revelation 20:15
So which is it? Christbook or Facebook? It is not about me or about you! It is about Christ! You can let God make it about you but first you have to make it about him! Then you are moving in the right direction to stay out of the Lake of Fire! God did make it about you on the Cross! But if you reject his sacrifice for your sin then you become the sacrifice! You do not want to go there! After I discovered Christ’s love for me then for the rest of my life I have made it about him! So is your name in his Book? Is your name written in the Book of Life? How would I know? If you shared his name on your Facebook! Is your name written down in Heaven? If it was then you would share his name on earth! I do not wish the Lake of Fire on anyone! However the choice will be yours to make! In fact it has already been made! Unless you change your mind? God asked the same question in Daniel 12:1, that he has asked you in Revelation 20:15. Have you made it all about Christ? This is the only evidence God will find in the earth! Pastor Oscar Cope our Pastor here in Georgia has been in the ministry for over 50 years! So he has seen everything there is to see in ministry! He shared with us some of the excuses people make even in the church to avoid Christ! Some say I cannot take Communion or make the trip to the Altar because Christ and God is too Holy! I know God has forgiven me but I cannot forgive myself! Really? Are you greater than God? If God has forgiven you who in the world are you? Identification with Christ can only come while you are here on the earth! Your decision for Christ is only done in this life! But it determines your next life! How could I identify with Christ on Facebook? Put some Bible verses up on it! Embarrassed what your friends might think? Then you are not saved! No secret service Christians in earth or in Heaven! What evidence is there on earth that Christ is first in your life! Do you cheat God on your tithes and offerings! Do you work on Sunday or keep the Sabbath Holy? The evidence is either for or against you! Do you love others more than yourself? Can I have it both ways? My name in God’s Book and keep my Facebook account? Yes if you put and share Christ on your account! Your Facebook account will be closed one day! Then the Book of Life will be opened in Heaven! We hope and pray your name will be written there but your life for or against Christ is being recorded right now! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Credit Card Praise! John 5:43
Jesus did not come in his own name! He came from Heaven to earth in his Father’s name! Jesus told the crowd that you receive me not? However if another shall come in his own name you will receive him? Jesus whole walk on this earth was to give his Father the glory! What much of the world cannot stand is for you to come to them in Jesus name! If you tell the world my name is Frank, Sally or George they have no problem! But if you come to them in the name of Jesus all Hell breaks loose! Most people have a Visa or credit card. The bank that has given you the card has given you a loan or some credit! If you took the name of the bank off the credit card it would be worthless! You purchase by credit in the name of the bank! Your name on the card by itself would not even buy you a can of beans! Our power and authority does not come from our own name but from the name that is above all names! When we call on Jesus name it gets the attention of the Father just as a charge on your Visa gets the attention of the bank! Without the recognition of the bank or the recognition of the Father your request will be denied! The Father listens for the name of Jesus from your lips! Some people curse rather than praise Jesus! Do people go around cursing their bank? Your credit rating is all about you honoring your bank by paying back the loan! How much credit do you give Jesus for your life? How is your spiritual credit rating? Have you refused to give the credit for which he has paid out to you on the Cross for your sin? The debt was paid by him! Your debt! You did not even have to pay it back! Just thank him with your breath! The breath he gave you! What fool would refuse this offer? James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Salvation through the Jew! Genesis 49:10
Hebrew Translation: “The septre or staff with authority to punish, fight and rule shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver engraving and writing ordaining Kingship to Judah from between his feet, until Shiloh the Messiah come; and unto him shall the gathering of the whole human race be.” Comment: Today we as believer’s in Christ sit before his Throne in Heaven submitting to his authority! One day at the Judgment Seat of Christ he will be seated but you and I will stand before him so judged to everlasting life and some to everlasting punishment! So why did God give us the Law? Simply to show us we all need the Savior! The truth is we are and will submit to someone! It may be God or it may be Satan! I was blind but now I see! I served Satan for years then one day just like the Apostle Paul a great light shone over me and the scales were removed from my eyes! I can see clearly now! You cannot discern you destiny unless Christ intervenes and shows you your error! I will one day stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ! However for me his judgment for my sin was taken by the judge and paid for on the Cross at Calvary! You do not want to take your own judgment! You will end up in Hell. The choice is still ours to make! This life is short but eternity is forever! Where we spend it is the most important decision you will ever make! Like the thief on the Cross there may still be time for you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Biblical versus Civil Law!
But hereof be assured, that all is not lawful nor just that is statute by civil laws: neither yet is everything sin before God, which ungodly persons allege to be treason. John Knox (1514-1572) Comment: No one could probably understand this better than the Colorado Bake shop owner who was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for refusing to bake a cake for a gay couple! Then after a Supreme Court victory is still being harassed by Colorado State government? This is another ungodly civil law that when passed into statute the ungodly go after the Godly with harassment, threats of violence and civil court actions! John Knox also experienced this first hand as one of the leaders of the Reformation as Queen Bloody Mary of England took him to task! No history is new with man but just repeats itself! This is why God’s only Son Jesus Christ had to make a one way trip to the Cross for our sin! Many civil laws such as slavery, Jim Crow and others were at one time civil statute in our nation! Through a costly civil war the tide was turned! All civil laws that oppose the scriptures will be eventually overturned like abortion but often it comes with a great price! To oppose God is stupid and very costly! The unrighteous cause the righteous to suffer! That is best illustrated by Jesus to the Cross! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Wait Upon The Lord….! Isaiah 40:31
This is a famous scripture that is often quoted! There are even songs written of this verse! So what does “Wait Upon” mean? In a generic sense we all know but if you go to the Hebrew root word you will find some amazing things! The Hebrew root word is “Qavah”, Strongs #6960. The word means to bind together by twisting! Just like a rope is made! A rope becomes strong by binding together small cords! A three strand cord is not easily broken! The Trinity would be a good example! Like the rope they are one but three separate individuals that are unbreakable formed together. They are one because there is no sin in them and they are in perfect agreement! The first symptom of sin is disagreement! Disagreement with the Word of God! Then with family and nation! Our Constitution established by our Founding Father’s three separate branches yet one government! Samson was twisted together with the strength of God! No rope could hold him! Until he was deceived by a woman who cut his hair and his spirit was unraveled from God! I am not blaming the woman here but he consented to her deceit and knew well what he was doing! Then his eyes were put out by the enemy. Sin will blind us to the truth! He repented and used his strength that God had restored to him to bring down the coliseum upon his enemies and himself! The reason we wait upon God is that we do not defeat the enemy Satan by ourselves but by who God is and our close wrapped relationship to him! Jesus could have easily broken the ropes that tied him to the whipping post and the Cross! However he was stranded together in the Trinity and knew his sacrifice was necessary to deliver all men from sin! Paul and Silas were tied together by ropes and chains in the prison! The ropes and chains of sin that put them there could not hold them! The hang man’s rope was broken as the punishment of death for sin was paid at Calvary! The word “Wait Upon” also means to be lifted up and exalted! To be offered up, carried up and elevated from one elevation to another! The Jewish Temple at Jerusalem was elevated up above the city! They call it the Temple Mount! Worshippers had to ascend up from the city to the Temple! Jesus was taken high up above the city at Mount Calvary! He was exalted there! Jesus ascended from Mount Olivet to Heaven! The Rapture of the Church will be an ascension from earth to Heaven! Holiness brings ascension while sin brings descension and death! This word also means to “offer Up.” Jesus was offered up as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin! God offered up himself for our sin! We trust Christ because no one else or nothing else is trustworthy! We wait upon him in trust and confidence that he will accomplish the promises he has made to us! We offer up sacrifices for others because that is what God did for us! If you would have the patience to wait upon God great things will come to you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Are You Acceptable? Isaiah 61:2
Hebrew Translation: “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. The year of delight, favor, love, grace, kindness, as the pleasure of a King blessing his subjects! The year the High Priest’s sacrifices were accepted with the blood sacrifices and death accepted for our sin. The debt is now paid and the petitions or prayer requests are now heard and acted upon. And the day of vengeance when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies and God’s rage, revenge and jealousy was poured out upon the sacrificial offering and accepted. Now after this the people can be comforted with compassion as the sacrifice for their sin has been accepted and they can take a deep breath and sigh of relief for their trespasses have been atoned for.” Comment: Today when we accept the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross for our sin this offering of God for God on behalf of God is presented before the Father and our sin is forgiven. But what of the fate of those who reject the sacrifice of God’s only Son Jesus Christ for their sin? I would rather be a fallen angel in Hell than an unbeliever in the earth! Why? Because then they themselves become the sacrifice in judgment condemned to an eternity with their leader Satan! The one and only unpardonable sin is the rejection of Jesus Christ as their Savior! While you still have breath you can still chose Jesus Christ! But one day the opportunity in the chapter of your life will end! You are only acceptable to God through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross for your sin! Nothing else qualifies you for Heaven! No works or no efforts of your past, present or future will suffice! The Apostle Paul with all his great scholarly abilities said I only know Christ and Him crucified and nothing else! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Goals! Matthew 4:8-9
Jesus said what profits a man if he gain the whole world and lose his only soul? Remember the Devil offered Jesus all the Kingdoms of this world if he would bow down and worship him! We need a Godly goal! An eternal goal! Depending on our natural gifts we have different abilities. I will never play football in the NFL. I will never go to the Olympics. I am not a rocket scientist. I always enjoyed taking things apart and turning wrenches. I love preaching the Gospel but never had a full time job doing it. I love girls but they are very expensive! I like politics but it is too ugly for me! I would rather do a Bible Study than balance my check book! Math was not my best friend! We should all have one common goal! Reach the Kingdom of God! After this life an eternity awaits us all! Did you ever notice Jesus just had one goal. His goal was to prepare people for Heaven! To do that he had to die a ugly death on a Cross! He had to be raised from the dead! He had to ascend to his Father in Heaven to prepare a place for us there and send his Holy Spirit to us here on earth! How would I know if I had a Godly goal? I would have the same goal for you that I have for myself! My goal is to lead people to Jesus! I do not want to be set apart from Jesus seeking the Kingdoms of this world ending up separated from God forever! Also denying you access to Heaven by my rebellion against Christ! By creating an ideology that opposes the Kingdom of God! I want to share Heaven with you! My goal is that we both share Heaven together! Jesus said they will know you are my disciples if we have love for one another! Do you love the world as much as God does? Humanly impossible! But by his indwelling Holy Spirit all things are possible! Why not give your goals to God and let him sort them out in his eternal plan and purpose for your life! If you fight God’s plan and purpose for your life you will be miserable! If you confederate yourself to him then you will have joy forevermore! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Wrath or Salvation? I Thessalonians 5:9-11
Thessalonica was the Crown Jewel of the Apostle Paul’s mission work! His preaching there achieved a numerous and socially prominent following! Paul and his companions in the summer of 50 A.D. had to leave the city! Paul’s sudden departure left the newly found church exposed to great persecution! Paul sent Timothy from Corinth to check on the congregation at Thessalonica. Timothy informed Paul at his return to him that the congregation was steadfast and had a zeal to spread the Gospel! However the church did have some internal problems with sexual relations and some theological issues. Some in the congregation thought that those believer’s that had preceded them in death would have a disadvantage over the living when the Lord returned! So the Letter to the Thessalonians was born out of the need for Paul to settle these issues with the Church there. Paul has made it clear in his letter that God has not appointed us to wrath! The word wrath used here means a punishment with revenge from men! Revenge is a punishment from men that satisfies them but also brings grief to the punisher! The wrath of men is the opposite to the Salvation of God! God took out his revenge on men for their sin by punishing his only Son Jesus Christ on the Cross! Wrath and judgment came upon Jesus Christ for our sin! This is why rejecting Jesus Christ is so serious an offense to God! In fact it is the only unpardonable sin! Judgment or Salvation? Heaven or Hell? The choice you make about Jesus Christ will cast your eternity forever! Jesus is not an option unless you want the consequences being separated from God forever! Jesus is Judge of the living and the dead! He will be your Judge or Savior! The choice is yours to make! Keep in mind in Hell there are no more choices! In Heaven as the Angel’s who are created beings like us still have a choice! Lucifer made his choice to reject God but do you want to follow him to Hell? Jesus took our place on the Cross and took our Judgment upon himself! If Jesus does not take your Judgment you will take your own Judgment! Paul went on to clarify that whether we wake or sleep we live together with him! The word live from the Greek means that God through his Son Jesus Christ causes us to live righteous and Holy physically, spiritually and eternally in him! Paul goes on to say we need to comfort one another! We as the Church need to come to one another’s aid! To comfort one another together as the Body of Christ! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
John 3:16 Word Study “Believeth”
Believeth (Pisteuo) Strongs #4100 Believe in what? Yourself? Your shady relatives? The state? Republican or Democratic party? Money? Women? Men? Your dog? To believe is to have a mental persuasion towards something or someone! To have a confidence in! It is to have knowledge and experience that leads to an ascent to Christ with his words and actions! It is a belief that leads to good works even though we are not saved by our good works! A false belief leads to destruction! Never trust in someone that is not trustworthy! That excludes most humans! A belief and trust in Christ for our justification and salvation both past, present and future! To trust the work of God on the Cross for us as a substitute for the condemnation of our sin! You can believe the truth or you can believe a lie! What you believe is very important because your outcome in life is determined by what you believe today and forever! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com